Excellent piece. I was listening to a podcast interviewing a bunch of soldiers about PTSD in the military about six months ago, but it went in a completely different direction than what I expected. The soldiers said that their time in the infantry was time they missed a lot and the best time of their lives. Some psychologist concluded that the notions of brotherhood are best seen in a platoon of 30 soldiers, that that kind of community is rarely seen besides on sports teams and in the military.

The most fun I probably had was when I was on a college cross country team with 30 of my best friends. We were almost like a cult. We barely had any other friends and we did everything together. It was a big shock leaving it after graduating, but I also wish the solution to America’s systemic racism can be summed up in one paragraph. Twitter has me believe that “defund the police” is the solution to all societal problems, but then I have to check myself back into the real world.